Why Do My Eyes Hurt When I Wake Up?
Do you usually wake up with your eyes feeling hurt, sore, or irritated? This is usually a big red flag for a good day because this feeling leaves you groggy and experiencing eye discomfort, except in rare cases where the pain leaves after some hours. Having your eyes hurt when you wake messes with your daily life and routine. Hence, it shouldn't be an option. But what could be the cause? Why do my eyes hurt when I wake up? Most importantly, what can be done to treat and prevent it from repeating?
Eyes can hurt for many reasonsIf these are your worries, then this article Is for you. Keep reading to discover the different causes and their curative and preventive measures. When you finish this article, you won't have any cause to battle with hurtful eyes in the morning! Below are some reasons why your eyes hurt when you wake up.
Five Reasons Your Eyes Hurt When You Wake Up (And Their Solutions)
Here are some of the reasons your eyes hurt when you wake up.
1. Pink Eye
Pink eye, also known as conjunctivitis, is an eye condition usually caused by the inflammation or infection of the conjunctiva. This eye condition usually comes with pain, and its common symptoms include irritation, itchiness, watery eyes, and even the feeling of dirt or debris stuck around your eyes. Other symptoms include tearing, redness, and the burning sensation around the white part of your eyes, known as the sclera.
How To Treat Conjunctivitis
Contact a professional eye doctor for urgent medical attention, as this condition can develop into allergies or infections(bacterial and viral)
Put your hands away from your face.
Antibiotics can help stop inflammations. However, contact a medical practitioner to know the appropriate dosage for your age and condition.
2. Blepharitis
If you experience crusty flakes on eyelashes, itchy and crusty discharge on eyelids, or red, swollen, and irritated eyelids, these could be possible symptoms of blepharitis. You can also feel a gritty or burning sensation around your eyelid. Blepharitis is an eye condition characterized by eyelid inflammation. This eye disease usually leads to swelling of the eyes. Hence, pain emanates from that eye. It can be anterior blepharitis or posterior blepharitis.
Anterior blepharitis is caused by dandruff or bacteria from the scalp and eyebrows. In contrast, posterior blepharitis is caused by bacteria growth on the eyelids due to abnormal oil production. This condition is not contagious but comes with a lot of pain and visual discomfort. Hence, it could be why your eyes hurt when you wake up.
How To Treat Blepharitis
There is no cure for blepharitis, but here are some ways to manage the condition:
Regularly wash your eyelids.
Use a warm compress around your eyelid. This is to soften the oil in the Meibomian glands. Other medically proven and trusted methods can also be used to soften or control the oil around the eyelids.
The doctors might prescribe antibiotics or anti-inflammatory drugs, eye drops, or ointment to help you manage the symptoms.
Avoid activities that might stress your eyes. Strictly ensure that you keep your hands off your eyes, clean your makeup before going to bed, and use eyeglasses instead of contact lenses.
3. Eye Injury
Many eye accidents can cause eye injury, which can also be a significant cause of why your eyes hurt when you wake up. It could result from a foreign object entering your eyes or hitting your eyes against something. Another cause of eye injury is irritations and burns from chemicals not meant to be sprayed around the eye. Anytime an injury in the eyes causes pain, the amount of pain you will feel largely depends on the extent of the accident. Common symptoms are redness and swelling around the eye.
How to treat eye injuries
Do not self-medicate. See professional doctors for appropriate medications.
Use your medications daily until the injury disappears or until the eye doctor says otherwise. These medications might include drugs, ointments, eyedrops, or even injections, depending on the severity of the eye injury.
Tale your hands away from your face. Do not constantly scratch or rub the affected part.
4. Angle-Closure Glaucoma
Angle-closure glaucoma is usually caused by fluids trapped in the eyes and cannot be filtered out. This usually leads to increased pressure around the eyes, which in turn causes discomfort and pain when you wake up. The common symptoms of angle closure glaucoma are pain, headache, nausea, and vomiting.
How to treat angle closure glaucoma
Angle-closure glaucoma required urgent medical attention. If you notice any symptoms, visit a doctor for appropriate drugs and medications.
Do not attempt to self-medicate.
5. Eye Strain
Eye Strain can be caused by various activities you've engaged in that have stressed your eyes. This can extend to when you're asleep or when you just woke up, such that when you wake up, you begin to feel pains around your eye, and this can later lead to headaches. There are two common causes of eyestrain. It could be caused by focusing on a particular activity for an extended time or using eye aids like contact lenses or eyeglasses wrongly.
Focusing on an activity for a long time could be pressing your phone, staring at your PC for a long time, or constantly squinting your eyes to see well on sunny days. Alternatively, wearing your contact lens or eyeglasses wrongly might be the cause. It could be that your eyeglass lenses are scratched or not properly balanced when you wear them. It would lead to your retina properly focusing, hence leading to eyestrain. Common symptoms include sore, tired, or itchy eyes.
How To Treat Eye Strain
Use polarized lenses while operating your phones, pc, and outside in the sun. Some of our top picks are the Dollger cat-eye sunglasses and the Dollger oversized frame sunglasses. These sunglasses help filter glare and harmful UV rays from reflective surfaces, eliminating eye strain.
Resist the urge to squint your eyes to see well. If you use prescription lenses, use them often so you don't have to squint your eyes to see. Squinting causes fatigue in your eye muscles, and this leads to eyestrain.
Do not use faulty eye aids like contact lenses and eyeglasses.
Properly maintain your eyeglasses and send them for repairs in case of scratches or other damages. Below are some tips to help you care for your glasses to avoid eye strain.
Keep your glasses cleanBest Care Tips For Your Eyeglasses
Clean Your Eyeglasses Correctly.
The best way to clean your eyeglasses is by using the correct solution and fabric. For the proper cleaning solution, ensure that you use an eyeglass-specific cleanser. Avoid using cleansers meant for home care, as these cleansers contain harmful chemicals like ammonia that can damage the coating of your lenses.
For the correct fabric, use 100% cotton fabric or soft microfiber clothes. To avoid unnecessary scratches or long-term damage, avoid using tissue, shirts, towels, napkins, or other fabrics that are 100% cotton. Also, always check that the fabric you use to clean your eyeglasses is clean. Dirty fabric can transfer dirt and particles to your glasses, damaging your lenses.
Rinse Your Glasses Regularly.
Ensure that you rinse your glasses at least once a day. If you have the chance to do it more than once, then it is not a bad idea. Getting debris, dust, dirt, and particles on your glasses is inevitable, so when you want to clean them with dry fiber clothes, the cleaning and wiping movement can become quite abrasive. This can damage your lenses and cause eyestrain. Hence, washing with water will help reduce the chances of this happening.
Allow Your Eyeglasses To Air-Dry
It does not end with just rinsing your glasses. What you do after rinsing your glasses is also essential. It is advisable that when you rinse your glasses, let them air dry instead of trying to use clothes or other materials to dry them by yourself. Avoid the contact of different materials on your glasses lenses. Instead, you can use soft fiber clothes to remove excess moisture and, afterward, leave them in a clean, dry place to air dry to improve the longevity of the eyeglasses.
What You Should Do To Prevent Your Eyes Getting Hurt When You Wake Up
Go for a regular eye test. This will help you avoid squinting your eyes to see, as any eye defect will be detected, and appropriate prescription lenses will be given to you. If you already have a prescription lens, a regular eye test routine will help you detect when to change or upgrade your lenses.
Practice good hygiene for your eyes. One good hygiene is to have an appropriate sleep routine. Starving yourself from sleep can also affect your vision. Good eye hygiene also involves avoiding scratching your eyes often or unnecessarily and washing your eyes and face daily.
If your daily activity requires spending a long time on your smartphone or PC, get anti-glare glasses to help you filter horizontal light. We highly recommend the Dollger. They come with polarized lenses and can be custom-made for you if you have eye prescriptions.
If you are out on sunny days, ensure you have sunglasses on. We love these Dollger aviator sunglasses or these Dollger full-frame round-frame sunglasses. They are polarized and can help protect your eyes from the sun's harmful UVA/UVB rays. You wouldn't need to squint your eyes, which can result in eye strain that would hurt them when you wake up.
Conclusion
Waking up to hurting eyes can be pretty annoying and frustrating, but the good news is that it doesn't have to be permanent. A healthy and productive day starts with waking up with all body parts healthy and functional. You can figure out what is happening with the proper understanding of the course we've explored in this article. We've also provided their solution for you, so you're on your way to having a great and healthy day. However, Instead of seeking curative measures when they happen, you can enlighten yourself with the preventive measures in this article, and you won't have to experience a hurting eye condition in the first place. Do not forget to see the doctor if symptoms persist after a few days.
Related Pages
- The Benefits of Wearing Sports Sunglasses
- Vision Testing
- Medicine and Health Care: Prevention and Treatment
- Staying Healthy Tips
- About Sports Medicine
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